SINGAPORE, Dec 29 (Reuters) - The Indian gang rape victim
whose assault in New Delhi triggered nationwide protests died of
her injuries on Saturday in a Singapore hospital, potentially
threatening fresh protests in India where her case is a rallying
point for women's rights.

The 23-year-old medical student, severely beaten, raped and
thrown out of a moving bus in New Delhi two weeks ago, had been
flown to Singapore in a critical condition by the Indian
government on Thursday for specialist treatment.

"We are very sad to report that the patient passed away
peacefully at 4:45 a.m. on Dec 29, 2012 (2045 GMT Friday). Her
family and officials from the High Commission (embassy) of India
were by her side," Mount Elizabeth Hospital Chief Executive
Officer Kelvin Loh said in a statement.

Most rapes and other sex crimes in India go unreported and
offenders are rarely punished, women's rights activists say. But
the brutality of the Dec. 16 assault sparked public outrage and
calls for better policing and harsher punishment for rapists.

The case has received blanket coverage on cable television
news channels. The woman has not been identified but some Indian
media have called her "Amanat", an Urdu word meaning "treasure".

"We are saddened to learn that she has succumbed to her
injuries, and would like to extend our deepest condolences to
her family during this time of bereavement," Singapore's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Earlier on Friday, the hospital had reported that the
woman's condition had taken a turn for the worse. It said that
her family had been informed and were by her side.

T.C.A. Raghavan, the Indian High Commissioner to Singapore,
said after her death that the family had expressed a desire for
her body to be flown back to India. Moments later, the woman's
body was loaded into a van and driven away.

Talking to reporters earlier on Saturday, Raghavan declined
to comment on reports in India accusing the government of
sending her to Singapore to minimise the possible backlash in
the event of her death.

Some Indian medical experts had questioned the decision to
airlift the woman to Singapore, calling it a risky manoeuvre
given the seriousness of her injuries. They had said she was
already receiving the best possible care in India.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government has been battling
criticism that it was tone-deaf to the outcry and heavy handed
in its response to the protests in the Indian capital.

"It is deeply saddening and just beyond words. The police
and government definitely have to do something more," said
Sharanya Ramachandran, an Indian national working as an engineer
in Singapore.

"They should bring in very severe punishment for such cases.
They should start recognising that it is a big crime."

"SIGNIFICANT BRAIN INJURY"

The Singapore hospital said earlier that the woman had
suffered "significant brain injury" and was surviving against
the odds. She had already undergone three abdominal operations
before being flown to Singapore.

Protests over the lack of safety for women erupted across
India after the attack, culminating last weekend in pitched
battles between police and protesters in the heart of New Delhi.

New Delhi has been on edge since the weekend clashes.
Hundreds of policemen have been deployed on the streets of the
capital and streets leading to the main protest site, the India
Gate war memorial, have been shut for long periods, severely
disrupting traffic in the city of 16 million.

Commentators and sociologists say the rape has tapped into a
deep well of frustration that many Indians feel over what they
see as weak governance and poor leadership on social and
economic issues.

Many protesters have complained that Singh's government has
done little to curb the abuse of women in the country of 1.2
billion. A global poll by the Thomson Reuters Foundation in June
found that India was the worst place to be a woman because of
high rates of infanticide, child marriage and slavery.

New Delhi has the highest number of sex crimes among
India's major cities, with a rape reported on average every 18
hours, according to police figures. Government data show the
number of reported rape cases in the country rose by nearly 17
percent between 2007 and 2011.
(Additional reporting by Ross Colvin in New Delhi and Saeed
Azhar and Edgar Su in Singapore; Editing by Michael Roddy and
Mark Bendeich)